Siblings Sentenced for Secretly Selling Supermarkets Entrusted to Them

A businessman who entrusted four grocery supermarkets to a brother and sister saw them turn against him, according to a ruling by the Ulsan District Court. The court sentenced the older sibling to eight years in prison and the younger sibling to two years suspended for three years.

The siblings met the businessman through an acquaintance in 2017. He had operated about 60 restaurants in Busan and Ulsan for roughly 20 years before selling them and accumulating substantial assets. He later gave the siblings about 4 billion won and used their names to establish four grocery stores in Ulsan and Yangsan in 2018.

The businessman put the pair in charge of running the stores and paid them salaries. They also signed a pledge promising to transfer the names to him whenever he requested it. When he sought the transfer in 2019, however, they refused.

The older sibling then sold three stores without the businessman’s consent and took 1.07 billion won, prosecutors said. The sibling also diverted about 480 million won that the businessman had provided to open additional stores. During the trial, the defendant argued that the money represented an investment and that he was the businesses’ actual owner.

The court rejected that argument. It relied on the pledge and testimony from several store employees who understood the businessman to be the real owner. The presiding judge said the defendants had betrayed a victim who trusted them with the stores after becoming blinded by financial gain. The court also cited the lack of compensation and the victim’s request for severe punishment.

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The defendants, blinded by financial gain, betrayed the victim who trusted them with the supermarkets and sold them.